In conventional manner, power transmission belts are tensioned by using devices having tension springs which are attached to a fixed point and to the shaft of a pulley or wheel over which the belt passes. These spring devices suffer from the drawback of having their own resonant frequencies and also of being subject to fatigue, to corrosion, and to temperature variations. In addition, it is often necessary to associate them with means for damping oscillating motion and vibration, thereby increasing their cost.
Proposals have also been made to use hydraulic devices for putting power transmission belts under tension, but these devices are relatively expensive.
The object of the present invention is to provide a device for tensioning a transmission belt, which device is simple, effective, cheap, and possesses its own oscillating motion and vibration damping qualities.